A Superb Late 18th Century, Napoleonic Wars British Officer's Sabre With a French 'Trophy' Blade, With An Ancient Egyptian Goddess Wadget Entwined Serpent British Hilt

Gilt bronze serpent hilt chisselled in great detail and of very fine quality. Talisman symbol Napoleoniuc blade. Circa 1800. Very possibly a war trophy from the Battle of the Nile, with Nile Club connections There are numerous examples of snakes depicted in Napoleonic swords, such as the Lloyds swords, but usually with other beasts, such as lions, tigers or hounds, but to have two opposing serpents alone is very rare indeed. Snake sculpture - the Staff of Aesculapius, the Staff of Mercury, and the Embodiment of Wisdom Snakes are fairly frequent in Georgian sculpture, and of course from other periods. In art generally in fact from medieval times onwards, the snake is also associated with wisdom, and in this capacity is often found with statues of Prudence. The way this sword is constructed shows it is likely a trophy blade, captured in combat and mounted with a Napoleonic French sabre, etched with talismanic symbols of a crescent moon, sun, grand Turk's head, stand of arms. In fact the whole sword may indeed now be described as talismanic. Blade in superb condition, original scabbard in very good condition indeed, and the hilt is excellent. Scabbard throat lacking.
Egyptian gods and goddesses, much famed in ancient Egypt, become hugely popular throughout Western artistic culture in the early 19th century.
Europe became beguiled by ancient Egyptian art and architecture in all its forms, and furniture designers and sculptors particularly, eagerly created the ‘Egyptian style’ in the Regency period England, and the Consular and Directoire period in France.

The last photo in the gallery shows a photograph of one section of the collection in the museum of Waterloo, taken in around 1900, showing all the weapons of Waterloo en situ, including all the protagonists {British, French, Prussian and Belgian muskets, swords, pistols, armour uniforms, etc}. The museum was founded and owned by a veteran of the 7th Hussars that fought at Waterloo



Overall 39 inches long, blade 32 inches

Code: 23387